Saturday, March 11, 2017

March Madness

March did indeed come in like a lion and continues to swing from a mighty roar to a warm breezy whisper. Thursday it was a glorious, out of season 75 and tonight it is expected to be below 30.
I was able to manage babies, camera, and my new critter a week ago, but the Playdate past left no record. This week, in addition to the new puppy, we had the Captain's pooch. Woo wee, what a wild and crazy time.
Mr. Smiley has ever been easily traumatized by dogs. He is doing so well with SamWise.

SamWise decided he needed to do some decorating.

We read Hamilton Duck.

Look Gramerly, no jackets needed this very weird winter!

Last Saturday, I spent in Newburg, Indiana at the divisional swim meet. I just can't get over how grown this boy of mine is.

I think swimming is so different than most sports. While I guess it is in most everyone to want to win, at this game you can always beat your last time and feel good about ever moving on, if you weren't number one in the event. And who can argue with such great physical exercise?

Still, it is pretty exciting for this ol' Gramerly to know that swoosh of water you see in the lead belongs to me.

And that one headed to the finish line in first, same handsome guy.

He came in first again and again and again!

I was just so very happy for him. He's heavy on my mind this morning, competing at state this weekend. Go Bean !!

With all the good that comes with this sport, there is a price to pay. It is huge time suck and I have to throw my kudos to Ceece for her tenacity in ever supporting this boy of ours with endless packing, sitting, driving and keeping him fed. She wears it well!

Back to last Playdate with my new boy and the Captain's pooch- well, I managed to traumatize my gramerlings. A bit hard to explain, but here we go. It was warm enough to be outside, and that is where we all prefer to be, but I can't keep two dogs off the kids and Scout is stronger than me. So, I came up with a plan. We always feed SamWise in the chicken yard so he wants to go there and learns to make nice with the chickie girls. Scout has a collar that keeps him in an area around the house. Okay, I got this. Put SamWise in the chicken yard, hold Scout for the time it takes the kids to haul their hineys up the hill to the Fort, let go of Scout, as the poopies are out of reach of the exuberant nature of Scout and go get SamWise. Ahh, best laid plans. So I sternly tell my itty bitts the plan (about twelve times), stressing the importance of scooting straight up the hill to the Fort. I am drug to and fro on the front porch by Scout's wildness over not being able to play with the new puppies as they run around the house. I wait and listen for their voices from the top of the hill, and knowing they are out of harm's reach, let go of wild thing before my shoulder comes unhinged and head to the yard to get SamWise.
Before I've gone three steps I hear a blood curdling scream and realize my plan has clearly not worked as well as I had hoped. And I see a flash of blue running hell bent for leather after Scout. What went awry? Oh, that. Well, a certain little mister always has a plan of his own. The wood chip pile was just too tempting and Mr. Smiley was sitting right on top of it, smack in the middle of Scout's range and Scout was heading right for him. My brave Giddy-Up was going to save his brother. Of course, a running boy was more than Scout could resist, so Giddy-Up became his next target. Scout wouldn't bite a biscuit, but is big and very playful in his lingering puppiness, but you simply cannot convince any child of this when something bigger than them is hurtling in their direction. Mr. Smiley, screaming, still on the wood pile, Sassy Pants screaming on the hill, Giddy-up screaming and running. Oh lawsy, I managed to get Scout, and get Giddy-Up and calm him down and assure him of his bravery in protecting his wayward brother. I also managed to not pick Mr. Smiley up by the seat of his pants and toss him head long into the Fort! Mercy. Thank the Lord, no one was harmed in this Keystone Cop comic adventure.
After getting them up the hill, retrieving SamWise, and calming everyone, we did a big traipse through the woods and had a big time. I'm too old for such fun I tell you.

2 comments:

Oh how exciting this sounded! I can just see the pile of wood chips and one running while the other sitting on top of the wood chip pile both screaming! They will certainly have stories to tell when they get older!